Tips to Boost Restaurant Sales through Marketing
In the restaurant industry, there are many factors that can fluctuate your sales. So, one must constantly focus on marketing to keep their sales flow optimal.
If you want a big jump in your sales, follow the tips given in this blog post. They can help you find qualified leads and nurture them with effective marketing techniques.
How to increase restaurant sales?
1. Menu Design
Did you know your menu design has a great influence on your restaurant sales? It does make an impact, that’s why you should get your menu engineered by a professional.
They are experts at suggestive selling techniques where your most profitable dishes will be highlighted with design elements like larger font or colorful boxes etc.
They can help you leverage mouth-watering photos to bring attention to your special dishes. All this can result in higher sales.
Also Read: How to Create a Tasty Restaurant Menu Card in Photoshop
2. Upsell with Upgrades and Add-ons
Restaurant upselling is a tried and tested sales technique. It’s all about suggesting another item, either by listing them as highly recommended or customer preferred, etc.
When you know how to upsell, you are definitely going to a house full of restaurants. If you feel uncertain about upselling, just keep in mind that it is as simple as offering a side gravy with some extra fries and a steak sandwich.
When considering increasing your sales, upselling is a must technique. It can boost your sales by 30%. The best part is that the POS can do all the labor work while implementing this kind of strategy.
This smart restaurant tech tool can help you identify the most popular menu items in your restaurant and recommend them to your customers.
3. Integrate CRM with Other Tools
Integrate your CRM system with other tools to streamline operations and improve efficiency. You can sync customer data with your point-of-sale system to track spending habits.
For emails, you can use klaviyo and automate personalized email campaigns. Use CRM data to manage reservations and waitlists.
4. Enhance the Dining Experience
Use CRM data to personalize the in-restaurant experience. You can train staff to recognize regular customers and greet them by name.
Use customer preferences to make recommendations (e.g., “Would you like to try our new vegan dish?”). Surprise customers with a complimentary dessert or drink on their birthday or anniversary.
5. Cross-sell with Complementary Items
Just like upselling, cross-selling allows you to get creative, suggesting to your guest something different but complimentary along with what customers have ordered already.
For example, if your customer has ordered a glass of wine, you can suggest seafood pasta.
It is a perfect way to show your expertise to customers and make them feel like the experience is highly personalized just for them.
By employing techniques like these, you can impress your customers so much that they will start recommending your restaurant to their friends and family. However, they all can turn out to a lifelong customers.
6. Add online ordering
Today, the most important thing for businesses is customers’ convenience. That’s how online ordering was born, solely to cause convenience to the customers.
By offering online ordering, you give your customer the flexibility to place their orders online, which means they don’t need to wait.
With online ordering, you can also highlight your menu items and add-ons easily.
7. Build a Strong Online Presence
A well-organized online presence can also help you attract and retain customers in today’s digital-first world.
Make sure your website loads fast and is easy to navigate on mobile devices since many customers access it through their phones.
Also, focus on making these buttons prominent:
- Reservations
- Online orders
- Directions
Show your food, in-house experience and specialty. Keep your menu updated with ongoing prices, deals, descriptions and dietary information.
Recommended Book!
This book provides expert advice to take your business to the next level and better serve your new and loyal customers. No matter your skill level, within these pages you’ll find something to appeal, enlighten, and encourage. This book covers everything that culinary or hotel schools may not teach you!
Restaurant Excellence presents more than 300 pages of valuable and practical advice including contributions from twenty-eight respected food-service industry professionals, including top Chefs and CEOs such as Pierre Gagnaire, Jason Atherton, Andreas Caminada, Michael Ellis, and Michael Whiteman.
8. Leverage Social Media
Focus on platforms where your target audience is most active. Identify where your actual audience lies. Are they Instagram users or TikTok users?
Constantly post your food photos, videos of chefts cooking or customers enjoying the food. Share your behind-the-scenes moments to humanize your brand.
Use trending hashtags and challenges to increase your visibility. Post regularly to stay on customers’ top of the mind.
Also, promptly respond to your customers’ replies, comments, DMs, etc, to show your customers you really care about what they say.
Encourage them to leave feedback every time they visit your restaurant. This will nurture a positive brand impression.
9. Use Influencer Marketing
Influencers can surprisingly help you reach a wider audience. So, consider partnering with food bloggers.
Invite local influencers to try your food and share their experience. Offer them a free meal in exchange for a post or review.
Host events with influencers. Organize exclusive tastings or events for influencers to generate buzz.
10. Host events and Special Nights
Events can help you create buzz and attract new customers. You can host trivia, karaoke, or live music nights.
You can host Taco Tuesday with a live band. Or, you can offer an experience, like a pasta-making class or wine tasting. Charge a fee or offer it as a complimentary event for loyal customers.
11. Leverage Online Food Delivery Platforms
Delivery and takeout are really important for modern restaurants. You can list your restaurant on platforms like Uber Eats, Doordash, and Grubhub.
You can also offer discounts or free delivery for first-time users of the platforms.
12. Offer Promotions and Discounts
Deals and discounts can also drive traffic and also encourage repeat visits. You can offer your customers discounted drinks or appetizers during slow periods.
Promote your happy hour on social media to bolster your brand awareness side by side.
You can use the apps or punch cars to reward your repeat customers. For example, you can release something like: Someone buying nine meals will get the 10th free.
You can also create seasonal menus or holiday specials like Valentine’s Day dinner packages. Promote these kinds of offers as exclusive or available for a limited time.
Offer bundle items at a discounted price. For example, you can offer a burger, fries, and a drink for $10. Make sure to highlight these deals on your online and offline menus.
13. Storytelling
Share the story behind your restaurant. What inspired you to open it? Tell your customers what makes your food special.
What are your values? This can help because people connect with stories, not just products. This can also organically promote your restaurant and boost your sales.
14. Gamification
Introduce elements of play into your marketing. This could be a “punch card” system with digital rewards, a spin-the-wheel promotion for in-house diners, or even a scavenger hunt around the neighbourhood with clues related to your restaurant.
Gamification makes your restaurant more engaging and memorable. It taps into people’s natural desire for fun and rewards.
15. Focus on Local Marketing
By targeting your local community, you can build a loyal customer base. To do this, you can partner with nearby gyms, theatres, shops for cross promotions.
Or, you can host joint events like wine tasting at a local winery.
Use Google or Facebook Ads to target users within a specific radius of your restaurant.
16. Invest in Customer Relations
Collect customer data to offer a highly personalized customer experience. Here are some ways to collect data:
- Reservation systems: Collect information like names, phone numbers, and email addresses when customers book tables.
- Loyalty Programs: Encourage customers to sign up for reward programs in exchange for their contact details.
- Online Orders: You can collect this information through your website or third-party platforms.
- Feedback Forms: You can employ post-meal surveys to know what customers feel about your brand or ask about their preferences. Based on the feedback, you can constantly improve. After collecting the information, segment your customer base for better targeting. Segment your customers based on their age, gender, location, behaviour, preference, etc. Then, use CRM software to create personalized and targeted marketing campaigns.
17. Retargeting
Retargeting is a digital advertising technique where you will show your ad to people who have previously interacted with your restaurant online.
You could do this when customers have visited your website, browsed your menu online or engaged with you through any means.
Someone interacts with your restaurant’s social media page (likes a post, watches a video) but doesn’t take further action.
They then see your ads on that social media platform. This can keep you on customers’ top of mind who have shown interest in your food.
Recommended book to learn more:
The Retargeting Playbook is a complete guide for digital marketers about how to reach the 95 to 98 percent of people who leave a brand’s website without converting.
Retargeting gives advertisers the ability to stay in front of those people to bring them back and close the deal.
For that reason, retargeting has emerged as a must have marketing channel, yet there is a lack of content that explains how the technology actually works and best practices for using it.
18. Leverage Reviews and Testimonials
Positive reviews build trust and attract new customers. You can encourage reviews by asking satisfied customers to leave reviews on Google, Yelp, or TripAdvisor.
Example: “Enjoyed your meal? Leave us a review and get 10% off your next visit!”
Moreover, you can showcase your testimonials and highlight positive reviews on your website and social media.
Respond to negative reviews professionally and offer solutions.
Wrapping Up
These are some ways to boost restaurant sales through marketing. The best way to carry out all these is by partnering up with a reliable restaurant marketing agency.
This is because they are experts, and they can comprehensively work on all these areas. This will save you time, and you can focus on what matters to you the most: your business.
About the Author!
Based in Mississauga, Ontario, SrveUp is a Restaurant Marketing Agency specializing in tailored marketing strategies for the restaurant industry. With expertise in branding, social media, and digital solutions, SrveUp helps restaurants enhance their visibility and connect with their target audience effectively.
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